Earlier last week, customers from Amazon received notifications from the company informing them that their emails, as well as their names, had been exposed as a result of an unforeseen ‘technical error’.

Indeed, quite a number of customers shared the email responses that they received from the company on Wednesday last week via social media.

Nevertheless, Amazon did affirm that the problem was resolved but did not divulge the number of users that were affected by the error, and the duration to which they were affected.

A ‘technical error’ at Amazon led to users’ emails and names being revealed before the error was rectified

Unprecedented Technical Error

In the email sent to customers, Amazon informed individuals that it was not necessary for them to reset their passwords because it was not as a result of anything they had done.

Amazon further explained that customers’ emails and names were exposed due to the ‘technical error’ in the email notifications that were delivered to the customers affected.

Several people opted to show the world via Social Media the screenshots of the emails that were sent online this Wednesday, after BetaNews shared the story of the incident.

That being said, Amazon went on to release a statement on Wednesday informing the individuals that the issue had been fixed and that the customers that had been impacted were informed of their current predicament.

Despite the error, Amazon further informed the bulk of its customers that they should not have any issues regarding changing their passwords.

Regardless of the fact that their emails and names were not tampered with, there could still be individuals out there looking to performphishing scams that could target their emails and detrimentally affect them.

Amazon has failed to reveal the number of people that were affected by the hack

Amazon Stays Confidential About the Numbers

That being said, Amazon did not respond to questions regarding the number of customers that were affected by the technical error, as well as the duration of which customer’s information was exposed.

Additionally, the company did not divulge whether any customer information got into the hands of third parties.

Interestingly, in a customer forum, individuals that received the cryptic information from Amazon were startled that the company had not made any recommendations to them regarding resetting their passwords. Moreover, it was also discovered that the website link to Amazon that was located in the email signature was found not be secure.

Normally, it would contain the ‘https’ structure rather than the ‘http.’

That being said, such errors can be subject to multiple email scams from third-party sites

What Are the Dangers of Having Your Email Account Hacked?

There are multiple individuals that have had their email accounts hacked for a number of reasons. One of the major reasons for these hacks is the opportunity to gain access to the email account in question.

Indeed, a telltale sign that your email has been hacked is when you receive a call or email from unfamiliar individuals. Moreover, these individuals will further claim that they received an attachment from you that, frankly, just doesn’t make any sense.

That being said, here are some of the dangers of having your email account hacked.

Phishing-Phishing emails often result in a severe security breach, whereby individuals can access your details, and use it to send you consistent nagging emails with advertisements that are unbearable!

Website security failures- Apart from the proverbial emails nagging you from time to time, you will also receive issues regarding your email profile as well as any website tied to the email in question. Indeed, your website might be compromised in terms of security making you prone to more detrimental hacking as well as issues dealing with viruses.

Wire fraud- Another major issue ofhaving your email hacked is that you can become highly susceptible to wire fraud. That is, your financial accounts can be severely hacked and as a result, your money can be wired from your accounts especially if it is linked to the hacked email.

Release of Confidential Information to the Public- If you work in the government, or happen to have some confidential information that you put in your email, your content can be hacked and leaked to the public or used against you as blackmail. Not only will this tarnish your image, but might also result in the breach of non-disclosure agreements resulting in lawsuits coming your way!

Keeping Your Email Secured

With this in mind, the prevention of email hacks cannot be undermined. Indeed, sensitive information is placed in people’s emails, and having such information compromised not only causes financial and physical stress, but emotional and mental stress to the email owner as well.

Last Thursday, the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, announced that he will be starting a $2 billion fund to build preschools and fight against homelessness